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Researchers at Trinity College Dublin, in collaboration with Breye Therapeutics, have found that an oral medication ("Danegaptide") can protect against vision-threatening damage in nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy (NPDR), a leading cause of blindness in working-age adults.

The study, published in the journal Science Translational Medicine, highlights a new therapeutic approach that could replace or complement frequent, invasive eye injections for millions of patients with diabetes.

Diabetic retinopathy affects nearly 30% of people living with diabetes, and the nonproliferative form (NPDR) represents the vast majority of cases.

Currently, standard treatments such as intravitreal anti-VEGF injections are reserved for advanced stages of the disease, after significant, often irreversible vision loss has already occurred. Because these injections require regular administration into the eye, early intervention has remained impractical.

In preclinical models of the disease, administering Danegaptide rapidly reduced leakage from blood vessels in the retina, prevented inner blood-retina barrier (iBRB) breakdown and reversed retinal edema (swelling), with efficacy comparable to injectable therapies.

Additionally, in an early-stage clinical trial involving 24 patients with NPDR, oral Danegaptide was safe and well tolerated. Notably, 55% of participants demonstrated early signs of biological activity, including marked reductions in retinal leakage, decreased central subfield thickness and resolution of intraretinal fluid cysts.

Global estimates suggest tens of millions of people are living with NPDR, with roughly one-third of adults with diabetes likely to develop this or another form of diabetic retinopathy in their lifetime.

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